THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC(1), and in particular Article 4(5) thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 97/78/EC of 18 December 1997 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries(2), and in particular Article 3(5) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Decision 2007/275/EC(3) provides that the animals and products listed in Annex I thereto are to be subjected to veterinary checks at border inspection posts in accordance with Directives 91/496/EEC and 97/78/EC (‘the veterinary checks’). Decision 2007/275/EC also provides for a derogation from such veterinary checks for certain composite products and for the foodstuffs listed in Annex II thereto.
(2) The list set out in Annex I to Decision 2007/275/EC lists the animals and products in accordance with the Combined Nomenclature (‘CN’), as provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87(4). This list is used by the competent authorities of the Member States as a first step in the selection of consignments that are to be submitted to the veterinary checks.
(3) Since the date of adoption of Decision 2007/275/EC, the CN codes laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 have been updated several times, with the most recent amendments laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1754(5). As several amendments have been made to the CN codes for products of animal origin, the list set out in Annex I to Decision 2007/275/EC should be updated to take account of those amendments.
(4) In several CN headings and CN codes listed in Annex I to Decision 2007/275/EC products of animal origin represent only a small part of the goods included in the relevant CN heading or CN code. In such cases, column 3 of the above list refers to the applicable Union veterinary legislation and provides details of the animals and products which are to be subjected to veterinary checks. Taking into account the terminology and references in other Union veterinary legislation, those references in Decision 2007/275/EC should be updated in order to be aligned with current Union veterinary legislation.
(5) In the interest of consistency of Union legislation, the list set out in Annex I to Decision 2007/275/EC should be updated to take account of amendments made to the CN codes and to Union veterinary legislation. Annex I to Decision 2007/275/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(6) The composite products and foodstuffs listed in Annex II to Decision 2007/275/EC are not to be submitted to veterinary checks. Therefore, they should be clearly identifiable and need to be linked to their CN codes. In addition, certain composite products and foodstuffs should be deleted from the list set out in Annex II to Decision 2007/275/EC. That list should therefore be amended accordingly.
(7) Decision 2007/275/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(8) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Commission Decision 2007/275/EC of 17 April 2007 concerning lists of animals and products to be subject to controls at border inspection posts under Council Directives 91/496/EEC and 97/78/EC (OJ L 116, 4.5.2007, p. 9).
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1).
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1754 of 6 October 2015 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 285, 30.10.2015, p. 1).